Source http://www.contactdb.com/

Good email marketers test; great email marketers test, test, and test again. Consistent email list, email list company and regular testing enables you to find which aspects (content, schedule, B2B email list, etc.) of your campaign need fixing or improvement and allows you to see which strategies work before implementation. However, without a sound system, your tests and test results aren’t worth considering.

This post looks at a very simple yet extremely effective evaluation approach known as A/B split testing. This entry also covers the steps to follow for planning and conducting A/B split tests in your email marketing campaign.

 An A/B split test involves comparing two or more possible marketing tactics/strategies that basically have identical inputs except for one particular variable. The purpose of varying this single variable is to isolate and see which specific changes lead to a corresponding result. For example, two emails with identical properties except for their subject lines are used to find the best headline. One version is sent to a separate segment of the email list while the other is transmitted to another segment to see which generates higher open rates.

It’s a good idea to master the art and science of conducting A/B split tests in your email marketing campaigns. Other than being an excellent diagnostic tactic, these tests also enable you to handle other more sophisticated forms of email campaign evaluation. Here are the steps to follow to plan and run effective A/B split tests for your B2B emails.

1. Select the variable to test. The term “variable” in this context refers to that element in your email campaign that you want to change or evaluate. In the above example, the variable being tested is the subject line. Other variables of interest include time/day of sending, frequency, content type, calls to action, design/layout, opening line, email list segmentation technique, opt-in email list company choice, etc.

2. Create the test emails. Ideally, you should develop multiple versions of the same email with exactly the same properties except for the variable being tested. The number of versions depend on (equal to) the number of unique values that the test variable takes. The important thing here is that the variable tested should be the only distinct feature between the email versions.

3. Choose the test indicator. After you’ve determined what you’re testing for, you now select which measurable outcome value to use as your indicator. The indicator will be used to compare which email version of the test produces the desired result (highest or lowest value). In the previous example, the resulting open rates are used as the test indicator.

4. Select a representative sample. The choice of whether to use the entire email list or portion of it as a sample for testing depends on the statistical significance you’d like to achieve. The key idea here is that you’re selecting the recipients for your email versions.

5. Split your test sample. After sampling, you need to divide the sample set of recipients into subsets to accommodate the email versions you’ve created. Generally, the number of subsets you need is equal to the number of email versions you have plus one. The extra subset will be used later in the test. The sizes of the subsets again depend on the statistical significance required.

6. Assign one version for each subset. Each separate subset (except for the extra one) should be assigned to receive only one distinct email version.

7. Send the test emails. Before sending, make sure that you’ve correctly followed steps 1 through 6 and have clearly documented the test details including the version-subset assignments. With those aside, it’s time to press SEND.

8. Check your indicator. Wait for a reasonable amount of time after your test blasts then check the values of your chosen indicator for each of the subset of recipients (email versions). The decision criteria (highest or lowest indicator value) depend on the indicator you’ve chosen. In many cases, you’re going to look for versions that give you the highest open rates, click-through rates, etc. or versions that yield the lowest bounce rates, unsubscribe rates, etc.

9. Verify the results. This is now where the extra subset is going to be used. Find the email version that gives you the best result (meets your decision criteria) and send it to the remaining unassigned subset. Again, check the indicator value and see if it confirms your previous findings.

10. Act on the findings. Your results aren’t worth anything unless you use them as basis for changing or maintaining a strategy or tactic in your email campaign. Another related point here would be to regularly carry out these tests to generate more timely results and refine your campaign accordingly.

Source: internetretailer.com

Online advertising will account for 20.6% of all advertising in the United States by 2016,up from 14.0% in 2011, as digital continues to take marketing dollars away from print, radio and direct mail, according to a report this week from IDC.

The market research firm’s “Worldwide and U.S. Internet Advertising 2012-2016 Forecast” projects that marketers will spend $67.4 billion on Internet ads in 2016 in the United States, up from $35.5 billion in 2011, a compound annual growth rate of 13.7%. The report says that U.S. spending on Internet ads will overtake spending on print ads this year and direct marketing in 2014.

Western Europe, by contrast, will experience relatively little growth for spending on Internet ads, to $33.7 billion in 2016 from $25.6 billion in 2011, a compound annual growth rate of 5.7%. By 2016, online advertising will command 23.7% of all ad spend in Western Europe, compared with 18.4% in 2011, the report says.

Within online advertising, the balance of spend is changing along with consumer behavior, the report says. “In both the United States and Western Europe, we see a fairly steep decline of the market share of search ads caused by strong growth in mobile ads,” the report says, “while display advertising sees slight market gain, mainly due to strong growth in video advertising.”

In Japan, meanwhile, spending on Internet ads will increase to $12.2 billion in 2016, up from $8.6 billion in 2011, a compound annual growth rate of 7.2%. The market share for online advertising will increase to 23.9% from 16.3%.  Mobile, which already accounts for at least 20% of the mobile-obsessed country’s Internet advertising, will have a 25.1% market share by 2016.

Worldwide, Internet advertising spend will reach $144.8 billion in 2016, up from $87.4 billion in 2011, a compound annual growth rate of 10.6%.

Newspaper Websites Now More Popular than Their Hard Copies

Dublin, Ireland, June 7^th 2012: A BBC Worldwide survey of people in Ireland carried out between January and February 2012, and conducted by independent research agency Sponge It, reveals a huge appetite for digital news consumption amongst people in Ireland.

Newspaper websites (59.9 per cent) now beat their hard copy equivalents (57.4 per cent) as a source for news and current affairs. TV however still dominates as the main source of news at 63 per cent with breaking news and sports the main drivers of content consumption for respondents.  The results were unveiled today at an event in Dublin by BBC Worldwide and Spectra Data Group’s Ireland based advertising network,  Adforce.ie, the BBC’s advertising sales representative in Ireland.

With regards to the frequency of news consumption, online platforms are in the driving seat. To keep up with news and current affairs 54 per cent use smartphone apps more than a couple of times a day followed by newspaper websites at 42 per cent and TV websites also at 42 per cent. This compares to 33 per cent for TV sets and 11 per cent for newspapers.

Read more: BBC Worldwide Survey Reveals Irish People’s Appetite for Digital News Consumption

Source: emarketer.com

Facebook’s social ads projected to account for half of the social network's ad budgets by end of year

Social ads just might be working out the way Facebook hoped. According to early results from online advertising management company Marin Software, the addition of Facebook’s new ad units, Sponsored Stories, appears to have boosted Facebook’s ad performance as a whole—perhaps proving that ads with a social context do, in fact, resonate more with Facebook users.

Marin Software compared Facebook’s worldwide advertising performance metrics from April 2011 to March 2012 and called out increases in clickthrough rates (CTRs), costs per click (CPCs) as well as costs per thousand (CPMs). The upticks suggest that Sponsored Stories may have had a positive impact on Facebook’s ad revenue. According to Marin’s data, clickthrough rates have improved 20%. Moreover, CPM has risen 51% and CPC has increased 26%.

Sponsored Stories may be proving more effective for advertisers, but they are also more expensive. Marin Software estimated that about a quarter of its own client base was using Sponsored Stories. As more advertisers adopt these kinds of social ads, it’s likely that the cost for the ad unit will continue to rise.

Read full article.